Field
The present disclosure relates to an electronic apparatus, a method for controlling the same, and a storage medium.
Description of the Related Art
Some electronic apparatuses equipped with a display device detect proximity of a user based on detection information from a human detection sensor, such as a proximity detection unit built into the apparatuses, and control the display device based on the detected proximity.
For example, recent digital cameras include a liquid crystal monitor on their rear portion in addition to an electronic viewfinder (EVF) and are configured to be able to use both the EVF and the liquid crystal monitor to check composition of objects. Such a configuration usually enables image display of either the EVF or liquid crystal monitor in view of reduction in power consumption. In other words, if the user views through a viewing window of the EVF, the image display on the EVF is enabled and liquid crystal monitor's image display is turned off. If the viewing window of the EVF is not closed and external light is incident thereon, the image display on the EVF is turned off and the liquid crystal monitor's image display is enabled. For such a control, a proximity sensor for detecting proximity of an object, e.g., the photographer's face, to the viewing window of the EVF is arranged on or near the viewing window.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2008-252526 discusses a television set that turns on its power if a light detection unit and a human detection unit determine that lighting is on and a person is present in the vicinity of the television set.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-339627 discusses an imaging apparatus using an EVF. The imaging apparatus turns on power to the imaging apparatus's display device if a proximity sensor detects that the EVF is being viewed through. The EVF can thus be powered off to reduce power consumption in situations where a display image of the EVF is not viewed by a user.
In general, display devices need a plurality of types of positive and negative voltages to drive their display elements. To reduce power consumption, the generation of such driving voltages can be stopped during periods in which no user is needed. It takes some time for a boosting or step-down operation for generating a driving voltage to complete and for the driving voltage to stabilize. An image display of a display device is typically enabled after stabilization of the driving voltages. Even if the proximity of a user is detected by a proximity detection unit, it can be difficult to immediately provide stable display on the display device.
The proximity detection unit can erroneously detect proximity and perform control on the display device even if the user is not operating the electronic apparatus. If the user walks with an electronic apparatus, such as an imaging apparatus, around the user's neck, the imaging apparatus swings and the back of the imaging apparatus can come into contact with and move away from the user's abdomen. If the back of the imaging apparatus comes into contact with or approaches the user's abdomen, the proximity detection unit detects the proximity. If the back of the imaging apparatus moves away from the user's abdomen, the proximity detection unit does not detect proximity. In other words, when the user walks with an electronic apparatus that detects proximity of a human body and controls a display device based on the detected proximity, the user's motion can result in the electronic apparatus can repeatedly switch from detecting proximity to not detecting proximity. This causes the display device to repeatedly drive (turn-on) and stop (turn-off), resulting in unnecessary power consumption.